Scholarships to USA

[SerenePearlCat]

DS is in year 11 and she would like to go to university in the US. Does anyone have any knowledge of the full merit scholarships available to international students at top level universities? While doing her research she came across the Robertson and the Morehead Cain, I would love to hear from anyone who has managed to secure one of the merit based scholarships to the US.

I would be wary about relying on advice from people whose DCs have already secured scholarships. Things in US HE are currently a moving picture under the Trump administration. There are funding freezes affecting international scholarships and withdrawal of federal grants to some institutions. Friends who work in Ivy leagues are telling me that their universities are bracing themselves for their endowments to be hit with taxes, which will have a massive financial impact.

Are you aware that the Trump administration has already deported hundreds of international students because they took part in campus protests?

Has she factored in deportation for expressing views that oppose the current administration?

Point her towards Canada, New Zealand, Australia, consider Enhlish language programmes in the Netherlands or Italy... there's a world of better choices.

She is definitely set on applying but she would need a scholarship to attend. I don’t think that Canada, New Zealand etc have the same draw for her.

Would she consider a degree in the UK which includes a study abroad year? Most universities offer these nowadays for a wide range of subjects. Much cheaper too!

I suggest rather than blithely state ‘oh she doesn’t want to do that’ about a 15/16 year old, you actually take the time to read and think properly (and really take notice of what is going on) about the comments of the previous posters. I wouldn’t want a child
of mine going to uni in the US while the Donald is in charge. You have a year or two to think about, and big-up the realistic, sensible alternatives.

@SerenePearlCat
The Ivy League doesn't give out merit aid, only financial aid for families earning below a certain threshold (it varies, but a couple have just recently adjusted this threshold up from $85K to $200k/ yr)

For Merit aid, she will need to look at colleges who offer it. And she will need to take the SAT, which is available digitally now throughout the world. If her score is over 1500/1600 she is in with a chance at quite a few places, but for the most competitive, it would need to be over 1550.

If she goes for middle ranking universities with her top scores, she is more likely to be offered greater amounts of merit. This is because it raises their profile and the official entry grades for its Freshman class (undergraduate 1st years).

You might want to look for the services of an actual college counselor - I know of one in the US who has an international reputation because when my kids were applying (in the US) we talked to him. He has info on the UK / Netherlands in particular outside of the US. This is his website:

https://www.richardmontauk.com

You can have an hour of his time for a few hundred dollars over zoom, or you can book for an entire "package" which I believe can get very expensive.

Good luck

Morehead Cain is about more than just academics and I think needs a school nomination.

Merit scholarships are often not for very much and seem to be less than they used to be.

My daughter is going to a US university next year and I joined this Facebook group for parents of the class of 2025. It is a mixture of bizarre and helpful. They talk about scholarships a lot.

This is the equivalent for class of 2027 it might be helpful
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/192Yqkbnw6/

I realised I could edit my other post

You have to make sure they do need based aid for international students as many don't. The ivies do, I think.

Less prestigious universities will do merit aid, but the top ones don't. As a general rule, the top universities would be no tuition below $100K annual income and then it phases out gradually. Some also guarantee at least half tuition for families under $200K. Harvard is tuition free under $200K. those guarantees don't include living expenses but those are also granted, just not on quite as fixed a scale. The system is rather opaque. The federal government generates a number called the Student Aid Index (replaced Estimated Family Contribution) but the wealthiest universities use a supplementary form and their calculations are different. I can tell you our actual payment (eldest is currently 2nd year at a private university) did not match the SAI which the state university uses. But it's a number I consider reasonable given our income and she only has a small loan, not the crazy numbers you hear about.

the politics of coming here right now are another question. But you have time to wait and see how that goes as she's not applying just yet.

I would also advise that if she is keen on the traditional liberal arts subjects (this would include standard sciences but not engineering) that she consider some of the liberal arts colleges. The teaching is really outstanding and the students get to develop relationships with professors. It's very different from either the private research universities or the big public ones, but worth looking into.

@SerenePearlCat if your family income is below a certain level your daughter can apply for a place on this Sutton Trust programme: https://fulbright.org.uk/our-programmes/undergraduate-and-pre-university-programmes/sutton-trust-fulbright-us-programme/

If she doesn't qualify for that she can still join the mailing list for the Fulbright Commission: https://fulbright.org.uk/. They do regular webinars to explain how UK students can access the US higher education system.

One thing she should know about is that living arrangements can be quite different at US universities. The private ones often expect 4 years in university housing and the first year or two will be traditional corridor style, shared rooms, fully catered. It's less independent than the UK. And while alcohol is not difficult to find, the official age being 21 makes a significant difference.

Thanks you all for your replies, she wouldn’t be eligible for aid due to our income.The two scholarships she found during research cover full fees ( tuition, accommodation , meal plans etc). I imagine that they will be very competitive , they are open to international students but only a couple of international students are successful each year. The Fulbright Commission might be helpful.

I went to uni in the US including ivy league and this is not true. You can stay off campus if you want and arrange your own accommodation.

I did get some scholarships as an international students but very tiny amount and one off. Financial aids are usually for Americans. There are things like fulbright scholarship for UK students though I don't know if it will cover all 4 years or not. If money is a problem like for me, you could go self funded to a cheaper college first then transfer to your university of choice after. That's what I did and it saved me 2 years of expensive tuition as community college is cheaper. Another plus is you can transfer to a very good uni. I went to a top public one.

@MyWiseGoose Thank you for the information. If you don’t mind me asking which university were you able to transfer into ?

It can be a bit outing, it's the top one in the ranking for engineering and science.

People I went with to the community college also transfered to Stanford, UCLA etc and a couple of friends also international students did master at harvard. We all had a 4.0 GPA though while we were at college and did things like community service and applied for many scholarships. It helps when applying to the uni.

Hi, OP -

I taught in a ‘public Ivy’ for about 15 years before coming to Britain for personal readons. I did a long stint as an admissions tutor in a highly ranked Russell group STEM school.

The ‘Ivy League +’ including Chicago, Stanford and MIT, do not do merit scholarships. How would they choose?
However a small number of top universities and elite four year colleges have ‘needs blind admissions’ that extends with parity to Overseas students. The typical threshold for covering full expenses is around $80-100K of annual parental income but the threshold for a full tuition waiver at Harvard and MIT has recently been raised to $200K. Some aid is available at higher income levels. Other universities may have similar programmes.

State universities (Berkeley etc) tend to focus their aid on in-state students.

We don’t have anything similar to the elite American four year colleges in the UK. The academics are highly qualified but at some point - in STEM, usually after a postdoc - they have taken the decision to focus primarily on teaching, secondarily on research. (At well known universities the teaching can be excellent but the priorities are reversed). The education can be fantastic and the best are extremelycompetitive. They are well known internationally, have fantastic networks, and do a great job of preparing students for the next stage of life. UGs are the focus and opportunities for them abound. Amherst is one that gives aid to Overseas students, IiRC.

A mum said not that long ago that with a DC at Oxbridge, a DC at an Ivy and a DC at one of these colleges, the college student was getting the best experience.

Any highly sporty DC who may be eligible for a sports scholarship is in a different category. I can’t advise on that.

The Fulbright Foundation is devoted to promoting bilateral educational opportunities between the US and the UK. I highly recommend their website, webinars, etc

@poetryandwine thank you for your detailed reply..

Do you know anything about the Morehead Cain or Robertson scholarship ? DD has also found the Jefferson scholarship but I’m not sure if that applies to international students.

Thank you, OP.

I had not heard of the Morehead Cain ir Robertson Scholarships. They sound wonderful. UNC is excellent and Duke is outstanding, part of the ‘Ivy plus’.

One slight concern I have is to do with the emphasis on leadership. It isn’t geared to the British high school experience at all. I don’t think it is a particularly useful selection factor but it certainly is a popular one. Anyway, I commend your DD for her initiative in unearthing these.

I cannot tell whether overseas applicants are eligible for the Jefferson Scholarship.

Best wishes to DD

Thank you @poetryandwine she has found a few past UK winners, they all appear to be head girl/ boy at a top UK private school with excellent extracurriculars and leadership roles. They also all have top grades, DD should be able to achieve the grades. She attends a state school and would need to be nominated as the most outstanding pupil by her school .She will speak to the headteacher but I think it could be very difficult from the state sector.

Oh, this level of achievement helps! I think DD could subtly bring her state school background to bear in her application, in a positive way.

My oldest is at university (well, liberal arts college, and she loves it) in the USA right now and I'm preparing for DC2, so I'm speaking from experience when I say living on campus is required at many, especially for first years. Yale famously went to court over it once.

There are many other routes to university here (Brit living in USA) including CC etc, but I was concentrating on routes that someone from the UK would be interested in pursuing. Coming as an international student changes all the finances. If you are in a self paying bracket (and this really would be quite high at the T20 privates) then the public universities would be worth a consideration as their out of state tuition is lower than private for people paying out of pocket.

At the top universities they pay attention to social background so coming from a state school would definitely be taken into consideration. They're also interested in any extracurriculars she's done.

@SerenePearlCat Admittedly 13 years ago now when we looked at USA with DD, but the Fullbright are very much about post grad university study. I went to a seminar and discovered DD was eligible for nothing as an undergrad. We had earnings that were too high. She wasn’t Ivy League but they are more generous if they want you. The costs for DD were very high.

However DD got a place and a scholarship but that was less than 10% of fees. You cannot borrow the rest. We worked out a 4 year course was going to cost 4 times the UK similar course when you consider all costs. She decided to go to a leading college here, because it made no sense to pay so much. I’d look at USA for post grad to be honest unless she’s going to ace Ivy League.

@TizerorFizz is correct that PG study in America may be a more attractive proposition financially, OP. In particular most PhD study is fully funded -.tuition plus teaching and/or research assistantships. The assistantships pay much better than British studentships.

@SerenePearlCat you've had some knowledgeable practical advice, but I think you & your DD need to think really carefully about why she wants to go to the US for college?

What are her motivations? (hopefully not just watching Legally Blonde). Are you US citizens, living in the UK? Or does she want to emigrate to the States eventually?

What subject/degree does she want to study? Does she understand the very different structure and approach in US colleges?

What does she want to do after her degree? There could be difficulties getting jobs in certain areas back in the UK - she won't have the network of friends, nor the network of contact with UK employers. And depending on the jobs she looks for, and the US college she goes to, and her degree major, her degree may not be so transportable as a UK degree.

It will cost more than a degree in the UK, and the quality is rather more variable once you get beyond the Ivies, the Tier 1 universities, and the really well-known liberal arts colleges.

It's worth having a really thorough conversation about all of these questions.